Wedding Ceremony & Personalization FAQs

❤️ Can We Personalize Our Wedding Ceremony?

In fact, that's one of our favorite parts of what we do.

Your ceremony can reflect your personalities, relationship, families, beliefs, traditions and the kind of experience you want to create for yourselves and your guests.

Some couples want something deeply romantic and emotional. Others want their guests laughing from the beginning. Some want traditional language and customs. Others want something nobody at their wedding has ever seen before.

And many couples want a little bit of everything.

Depending on the ceremony and customization option you choose, we'll work with you through conversations, questionnaires, ceremony selections and your ceremony design process to help create something that fits the two of you.

💑 Can Our Great Officiant Tell Our Love Story?

This is where a Wedding Ceremony can become truly personal.

How did you meet? Who made the first move? What happened on your first date? When did you realize this was something special? What do you love about each other? What adventures have you shared? How did the proposal happen?

And, of course, there are usually a few stories that make everyone laugh.

Your love story gives your guests something they cannot hear at anybody else's wedding because it belongs only to you.

Our Great Officiants can take the details you share with us and weave them into your ceremony so it feels natural, entertaining and meaningful, rather than sounding like someone is simply reading answers from a questionnaire.

Ready to tell us your story? Our Relationship Questionnaire gives your Great Officiant the details that help bring your story to life.

Complete Our Relationship Questionnaire →

💌 Do We Have to Write Our Own Wedding Vows?

You absolutely can, but you don't have to.

Some couples have been dreaming about writing their vows for years. Others would rather do almost anything than stand in front of everyone they know and read something they wrote.

Both are perfectly fine.

You can write your own personal vows, choose from existing vow options, repeat vows after your Great Officiant, answer "I Do" to meaningful promises, or combine several approaches.

You can also keep personal vows private and use more traditional vows during the ceremony.

😂 Can Our Wedding Ceremony Be Funny?

A Wedding Ceremony can be meaningful and romantic without being overly serious from beginning to end.

If laughter is part of your relationship, it should be part of your ceremony too.

Humor can come from your love story, your personalities, your adventures together, funny things you love about one another, your hobbies, your families or those little quirks that everyone who knows you will immediately recognize.

The key is knowing when humor belongs and when to let an emotional moment breathe.

That's another place where an experienced Great Officiant makes a difference. We know how to get a laugh without turning your Wedding Ceremony into a comedy routine.

📖 Can We Include Readings or Special Traditions?

Readings and traditions are wonderful ways to add meaning to your ceremony and involve people who are important to you.

A reading might be a favorite poem, a passage from a book, a religious or spiritual text, meaningful words about marriage, or something written specifically for the two of you.

You can also incorporate traditions from your families, faiths, cultures or your own relationship.

And if you want something that has never traditionally been part of a Wedding Ceremony but means something to the two of you, let's talk about it.

Looking for ideas? Explore some of the different ceremony designs and styles available through Great Officiants.

Explore Our Ceremony Designs →

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Can We Include Our Children or Family Members in the Ceremony?

A wedding often joins more than two people. It can bring children, parents and entire families together.

Children and family members can participate through readings, blessings, unity ceremonies, ring presentations, special promises or other meaningful moments.

For blended families, we can also help create moments that recognize the new family being formed without making anyone feel uncomfortable or forced into something that doesn't fit.

Sometimes the most powerful family moment is very simple.

🐾 Can We Include Our Pets in Our Wedding Ceremony?

Absolutely! If they're part of your family, why shouldn't they be part of your wedding?

We've had four-legged wedding party members walk down the aisle, serve as ring bearers, sit beside their humans during the ceremony and occasionally decide that everyone came to the wedding specifically to see them.

Dogs may contribute an enthusiastic WOOF! during the vows. Cats may offer a perfectly timed MEOW! of approval.

And sometimes they just sit there looking adorable while completely ignoring everything your Great Officiant is saying.

Your Great Officiant can acknowledge your pet, include them in your love story or help create a special ceremony moment involving your furry family member.

Just make sure your venue allows pets and designate someone other than the two of you to be responsible for them before, during and after the ceremony.

🕯️ Can We Include a Unity Ceremony or Meaningful Ritual?

Unity ceremonies give you a visual and symbolic way to represent two lives, and sometimes two families, coming together.

Depending on your beliefs, cultures, location and personalities, there are many possibilities.

• Unity candle ceremonies
• Sand ceremonies
• Handfasting
• Wine ceremonies
• Love-letter or keepsake boxes
• Family unity ceremonies
• Religious and cultural rituals
• Custom rituals created around something meaningful to you

And you don't have to choose something simply because it appears on a list of "wedding traditions."

Want some inspiration? Take a look at our Ceremony Add-Ins for ideas that can make your ceremony even more personal.

Explore Our Ceremony Add-Ins →

🕊️ Can We Remember a Loved One Who Has Passed Away?

There are beautiful ways to acknowledge someone you love who cannot physically be with you on your wedding day.

It can be as simple as mentioning their name, sharing a few meaningful words, including a reading or blessing, lighting a candle, displaying a photograph or incorporating something that reminds you of them.

Some couples want this moment to be very visible. Others prefer something subtle that only they and their closest family members understand.

We can help you find the balance that feels right without allowing a moment of remembrance to overwhelm the celebration of your marriage.

✨ Can We Do Something Completely Different?

Not every couple dreams of the same Wedding Ceremony, and that's exactly how it should be.

If the two of you love Disney, superheroes, science fiction, fantasy, gaming, cosplay, movies, music, sports or something wonderfully nerdy, there may be a way to bring some of that personality into your ceremony.

Themed elements can be subtle or they can become a major part of the ceremony.

Maybe it's a favorite quote. Maybe it's a few inside jokes. Maybe your rings arrive in a Poké Ball. Maybe there's a lightsaber, a sword, a superhero reference or a ceremony inspired by a movie, game or fandom you both love.

The goal isn't to turn your wedding into someone else's idea of what it should be.

The goal is to celebrate who you actually are.

Want to see just how creative a Wedding Ceremony can be?

Explore Our Themed Weddings →